Thursday, 5 January 2017

The effect of gravity on speed

1. Put the ramp against the seat of a chair. Place the ramp and chair so that the ramp points towards the hallway. Have your teammate on the other end of the hallway.

2. Place the ball bearing at the top of the ramp.

3. Lift the ramp 20 cm and release the ball bearing.

4. Time how long it takes to travel in 5 meters.

5. See how far it will go.

6. Repeat the experiment three times for each height then do 40 cm, 60 cm and 80 cm.

Analysis (questions):

1. Describe how the balls roll off the ramp at each height - discuss the effect of bouncing other factors.

= The ball bearing rolled diagonally off the ramp and went very far (20 cm). The ball bearing rolled, also diagonally and not the furthest (40 cm). The ball bearing rolled, 3 times, almost vertically (60 cm).2. Discuss what is the fastest speed reached and any factors that could improve this.= The fastest speed reached 4.50 seconds and the way we can improve this, is having a smoother ramp which will make the ball roll faster in a rate, because there is less friction. But if we have a rough ramp the ball bearing will have more friction and will roll slower than the smoother ramp.3. Does the ball travel in a straight line, why or why not?= The ball doesn't travel in a straight line which there are 2 factors, the first reason is that we placed it in where the ball rolls diagonally, the second reason is that there is wind which pushes the ball to the right or left.